Halfblood: A Vampire's Tale
by The-Sapphire-Phoenix
Summary: Based on the Van Helsing RPG in the forum here, this is more or less the story version of our fanfiction rpg. Some characters c Hammermaster, Spaztic Arwen, petewentz'sno2fan, TheSapphirePhoenix, Rainella, and Ariel Sparrow


halfblood: a vampire's tale

Chapter One: Baron's Loft

Anu Kaja was used to people staring at her my now. She always recieved strange looks from the many people she passed along her was as a wanderer. Baron's Loft was no different. A small town just outside the northern Romanian city of Bistrita, the Loft had streets of houses crammed together, as well as a fine gatehouse and gatekeeper and an ever finer tavern with an inn attached. It was at this establishment, the Grey Gate Inn, that Kaja was currently taking up residence. She had arrived in Baron's Loft some two weeks prior to this particular point in time, and the landlord was beginning to worry she night never leave. As nervous as he was about the gossip her true identity brought to the town, he could not deny that the publicity and increase in patronage was something he had been awaiting for quite some time. So as much as he wanted to kick her out of her room, the landlord tolerated her presence, if only for the profit.

It was eight-fifteen in the evening when Kaja came out of her room on the upper floor. She was customarily seen in the tavern itself at three times: nine in the morning - when she rose, bought her meager breakfast, and left to go about her business in the town; four in the afternoon, when she returned and occasionally purchased a light dinner (this did not happen every day, however, and on days Kaja did not buy food she would either take a stiff drink or go straight to her room); and eight-fifteen, when she would return with her dishes and catch the last of the day's gossip. Once she was satisfied with the news, she would promptly retreat back to her rented room for the night.

This particular day, Kaja took a seat at the bar, placing her dirty tray before the barman and ordering a strong drink. It had not been a very good day, and she was beginning to worry that the townspeople were developing their suspicions about her. Kaja had taken the necessary precautions so as not to draw too much attention to herself, but perhaps keeping the hood of her cloak up at all times was starting to seem strange. Her tankard was placed in front of her and Kaja consumed its contents in one quick gulp, dropping the payment onto the counter. Standing and adjusting the cowl around her head, Anu Kaja ascended the stairs into the darkness of her room. The dark had never bothered her, though it hindered her eyesight however minimally, and she quickly lit the candle. The candle wax was twisted and deformed with usage, and had been reduced to a pile not two inches high surrounding the blackened wick. With the dim light of the candle, Kaja had better range of vision and could move about well enough in her small cloister. Neatly folding her traveling cloak and placing it atop the chair in the corner of the room, Kaja ran her fingers through her long, dark hair. It had been an excruciatingly long day, and she knew it was almost time for her to move on to the next town. She was nearly due for a hunt, and if she disappeared for a day, only to resurface when someone's dying relative turned up missing, she knew people would catch on. Kaja had already noticed that a young man - a Hunter - was on to her. He had been on her trail for what Kaja estimated was about a fortnight, tracking her almost from the Hungarian border. So not only had she overstayed her welcome, she was also gaining popularity in the wrong crowds. The last thing she needed to do now was hunt.

Kaja pushed all thoughts of her growing thirst from her mind - something she had gotten quite used to doing - and went over to turn down the motheaten sheets on the small bed. At that moment, there came a knock at the door to her room, startling her slightly. Throwing her cloak back on in an instant, she answered the door not two seconds following the tap.

"What?" she barked in Romanian to the young man standing outside the room. Kaja recognized him as the innkeeper's son and so, though she used his native language, did not stand upon formality.

The young man held out a sealed parchment envelope with a timid nod. "A letter for you," he replied in his common tongue.

Kaja took the envelope and procured a silver piece. The boy took it with an eager smile and dashed back down the stairs, but Kaja did not notice. She was too preoccupied with the envelope to see him leave. Pushing the door closed distractedly, she examined the heavy parchment. Who could be sending her a letter? As far as she knew, no one knew her whereabouts. Curious, she opened the envelope and pulled out the coarse piece of folded parchment from inside. Unfolding it, Kaja quickly scanned it for a name. Not initially finding one, she set to reading it, casting the envelope aside.

_Kaja,_

_I hope this note finds you well. In fact, I hope this letter finds you at all. I am sending it with a friend of mine who is acting as an assistant to a fellow Hunter whom I sure is plaguing you at the moment. I gave my friend explicit instructions to pass this letter on to you only when he deemed the time ripe. I also told him to keep his mission secret from your friend the Hunter. I can only hope he has done as I asked, though I have the utmost confidence in him. He seemed trustworthy enough when I...interviewed him; you take my meaning. _

_On to the reason why I am sending you this so covert notice. You may be curious as to why, seeing as we have not been in contact for some time. The fact of the matter is, we need to meet. I realize that this letter may not reach you for some time and so I hope you understand that it is not pressingly urgent. But once you do recieve it I should hope you make arrangements to come here as soon as possible. I have moved since last we met, and can now be found in Leova in eastern Romania. I shall not disclose the details of the information I found here. This is only because of my caution against its being intercepted. _

_Until then, my friend, I wish you my best. Stay fit and fine, may your road be swift and even, and please - for my sake and for yours - try not to get yourself into more trouble than necessary._

_Your long-absent friend,_

_Lexa Goering_

Kaja folded the letter after rereading it. Lexa? She hadn't heard from Lexa in years._ It's too bad_, Kaja thought to herself, _I would have liked to have stayed in touch. But why now? What could she have heard or done that would call for such a sudden message?_ She shrugged off her confusion. If it was urgent enough for her to contact Kaja so unexpectedly, it deserved to be answered. Kaja removed her cloak once more and placed it on the table in the room and then set the folded letter next to it. Kaja went over to sit in the chair and sighed. Her eyes unfocused as she stared into space, mulling over the letter. She tugged her necklace - one large, polished purple stone on a thin black leather cord - out of her shirt and began fingering the stone absently. _Lexa._ Kaja had managed to befriend the young Hunter somehow, though she suspected part of the companionship was Lexa's doing as well. Lexa was two years older than Kaja, and was just starting out on a Hunting career. Once they had become fast friends, Lexa confided in Kaja some details of her past. She had led a fairly happy childhood; though her mother left her at an early age, Lexa lived well with her father and grandparents. Her father, Damian Goering, was the leader of the Fallen Angels, a specialized branch of the Order. The Order was the main legion of Hunters - those who took up battling supernatural creatures as a profession - headed by the Vatican. It had formed the Fallen Angels some fifteen years following its own inception, and this constituted locating all the people from London to Transylvania with the ability to read thoughts (a surprising number considering the complexity and specialization of the power). By simply looking into a being's eyes, the Angels could catch glimpses of thoughts and so piece the information they recieved together to get the basics of that being's train of thought. Damian Goering, the eighth leader of the sect, had possibly the greatest and strongest control of his power. When Lexa was twelve, around Damian's fourteenth year in leadership of the Fallen Angels, the Order set up a mission for its covert legion to try and snuff out Mladen, a vampire with rapidly increasing power. Damian and the Angels had tracked Mladen for almost a year, always just coming up short. However, in the late summer of 1896, Mladen launched a surprise attack against the legion close to where Lexa and her father were living. The battle that ensued was not long, but terribly bloody. Mladen and his underlings slew all of the Fallen Angels present at the battle, as well as some civilian bystanders caught in the action. Finally, after all others had been killed, Mladen forced Damian to his knees. As Lexa watched from a distance unbeknownst to Mladen or her father, Mladen slashed out Damian's eyes and slit his throat, drinking the spilled blood.

Kaja shuddered involuntarily, recalling the time Lexa explained the experience to her. It was all quite horrific, but Kaja also remembered the good Lexa said had come from it. Following her father's death, Lexa decided two things: one, that she was going to train to control her inherited power to become one of the last Fallen Angels and two, that someday she would complete the Angels' last mission and defeat Mladen. _Perhaps, _Kaja thought, _evil is the greatest source of good in this world._

Kaja sighed and let the necklace slip from her fingers. In the morning she would leave, paying the innkeeper for his services - it was lucky for her that she had a veritable inheritance from her mother's wealthy family - and heading east towards Leova, where Lexa had detailed she now resided. Why she had moved as the letter mentioned, Kaja couldn't say. But regardless of that fact, she would go whatever distance to answer the summons.

With one final look around the room, Kaja rose out of her chair. She trodded over to where the candle sat, yellow flame dancing flirtatiously in the night as drops of wax rolled down its side, hot tears falling from the pool beneath the fire. Leaning over and dragging her hair from her face with one hand, she gently blew out the candle, her other hand behind it. As the coil of smoke writhed into the air and the sudden darkness enveloped the room Kaja crawled into the small bed, pulling the woolen sheets up to her chin and quickly slipping into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
